Your family decides to take a long road trip during the summer. You will be riding in the car when it moves at a fairly constant rate for eight hours to reach your destination
Question 1
Which Quantity in this situation is the independent variable?
Question 2
Which Quantity is the dependent variable?
Question 3
Describe how you know which is which in this situation.
Question 4
What do you think is a reasonable speed for the car to travel at for most of the trip? Remember to include units of measurement in your answer.
Question 5
Why did you pick this number?
Question 6
Fill out the table below that shows the amount of time that has passed and how far you have traveled from 0-8 hours. Make sure to label the quantities on the top row of the table. Pay attention to which side each quantity should go on.
Question 7
Write an equation using the variables x and y that relates the distance to the time. Label the variables to show what they stand for in the equation. Be careful which variable you use for the independent and dependent quantities.
Question 8
Use the table,graph, or equation to predict how far the car would travel if it drove for 10 hours instead of 8.
Question 9
Which representation (table, graph, or equation) did you use?
Question 10
Why did you choose this method?
Question 1:
The independent variable in this situation is time.
Question 2:
The dependent variable in this situation is distance traveled.
Question 3:
In this situation, time is the independent variable because it is what is being controlled or changed (the family decides to drive for eight hours). Distance traveled is dependent on time, as the distance traveled will vary based on how long the car has been driving.
Question 4:
A reasonable speed for the car to travel at for most of the trip could be around 60 miles per hour (mph).
Question 5:
I picked this number because it is a common speed for long road trips, and it allows the family to cover a good distance in a reasonable amount of time. 60 mph is also a safe and legal speed on most highways.
Question 6:
| Time (hrs) | Distance Traveled (miles) |
|------------|---------------------------|
| 0 | 0 |
| 1 | 60 |
| 2 | 120 |
| 3 | 180 |
| 4 | 240 |
| 5 | 300 |
| 6 | 360 |
| 7 | 420 |
| 8 | 480 |
Question 7:
The equation that relates distance to time is: y = 60x
Where:
y = Distance Traveled (miles)
x = Time (hours)
Question 8:
If the car drove for 10 hours instead of 8, using the equation y = 60x, we can predict that the car would travel 600 miles.
Question 9:
I used the equation to make the prediction.
Question 10:
I chose to use the equation because it is a simple and direct way to calculate the distance based on the time traveled, and it can be used for any time input without the need to create a new table or graph.